Lubbock National Weather Service

The National Weather Service in Lubbock will test a new format for our Winter Storm Watches, Warnings and Advisories and also our Non-Precipitation Watches, Warnings and Advisories starting
Tuesday December 8th, 2009.

Survey Information - Click Here

Here is a list of all the products that will be effected by this change:

Products under the WSW (Winter Weather) header include
Watches	Warnings	Advisories
Winter Storm Watch	Winter Storm Warning	Winter Weather Advisory
Blizzard Watch	Blizzard Warning	Freezing Rain Advisory
Wind Chill Watch	Ice Storm Warning	Wind Chill Advisory
	Wind Chill Warning

Products under the NPW (Non-Precipitation) header include
Watches	Warnings	Advisories
Excessive Heat Watch	Dust Storm Warning	Wind Advisory	Heat Advisory
Freeze Watch	Excessive Heat Warning	Dense Fog Advisory	Frost Advisory
High Wind Watch	Freeze Warning	Dense Smoke Advisory	Blowing Dust Advisory
	High Wind Warning	Freezing Fog Advisory

The new format will utilize bullets to highlight the important impacts of each product. Please see the example below which highlights the "old" format on the left to the "new" format on the right. The major changes will be highlighted in red.

"Old" Format

"New" Format

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
723 PM CDT THU MAR 26 2009

...CRIPPLING LATE SEASON WINTER STORM TO AFFECT THE PANHANDLES
TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY...

.AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL DIVE SOUTH ACROSS THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND WILL PUSH EASTWARD ACROSS WEST TEXAS DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. COLD AIR WILL CONTINUE TO PLUNGE INTO THE PANHANDLES ALLOWING SNOW TO SPREAD FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA. RICH MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE WITH THIS SYSTEM...WHICH WILL ALLOW A LARGE AREA OF HEAVY SNOWFALL TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE PANHANDLES.

OKZ003-TXZ004-005-009-010-014-015-019-020-270500-
/O.CON.KAMA.WS.W.0001.000000T0000Z-090328T1800Z/
BEAVER-OCHILTREE-LIPSCOMB-ROBERTS-HEMPHILL-GRAY-WHEELER-DONLEY-COLLINGSWORTH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BEAVER...FORGAN...PERRYTON...BOOKER...
HIGGINS...FOLLETT...MIAMI...CANADIAN...PAMPA...SHAMROCK...
WHEELER...CLARENDON...WELLINGTON
723 PM CDT THU MAR 26 2009

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT SATURDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT SATURDAY FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ACROSS THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA
AND TEXAS PANHANDLES.

AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT THE EASTERN
PANHANDLES THROUGH NOON SATURDAY. HEAVY SNOW WILL SPREAD FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PANHANDLES TONIGHT. BY EARLY FRIDAY MORNING HEAVY SNOW AND VERY STRONG WINDS WILL BE AFFECTING A LARGE PORTION OF THE AREA. NORTHERLY WINDS OF 25 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OVER 45 MPH WILL CAUSE WIDESPREAD BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE AT TIMES FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. HEAVY SNOWFALL OF 6 TO 12 INCHES IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE PANHANDLES WITH AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 12 INCHES COMMON. SNOW DRIFTS OF 10 TO 20 FEET WILL BE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW AND WINDS FINALLY END NEAR MIDDAY ON SATURDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

ROADS...BRIDGES...AND OVERPASSES IN THE WARNING AREA WILL BECOME
SLICK AND HAZARDOUS. ACCUMULATION OF SNOW ON ROADWAYS...BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES WILL MAKE TRAVEL TREACHEROUS. EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION IF TRAVEL IS NECESSARY.

PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST UPDATES.

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT SATURDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT SATURDAY FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ACROSS THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA
AND TEXAS PANHANDLES.

AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT THE EASTERN PANHANDLES THROUGH NOON SATURDAY.
HEAVY SNOWFALL OF 6 TO 12 INCHES IS EXPECTED WITH AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 12 INCHES COMMON.
NORTHERLY WINDS OF 25 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OVER 45 MPH WILL CAUSE WIDESPREAD BLOWING SNOW.
REDUCED VISIBILITIES TO BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
SNOW DRIFTS OF 10 TO 20 FEET WILL BE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW AND WINDS FINALLY END NEAR MIDDAY ON SATURDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR THE LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST UPDATES.

As mentioned above, the testing phase of this new format will begin on December 8th, 2009 and end on May 29th, 2010. You have the opportunity to comment on the new format by taking a brief survey. Please provide your feedback by clicking HERE to take this extremely valuable survey.

The main idea behind the format change is to make the impacts from the given event easy to find. Using bullets should help accomplish this task and may also help shorten the overall product length. If you have any addition questions regarding the format change, please e-mail us at: sr-lub.webmaster@noaa.gov

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

The National Weather Service in Lubbock will test a new format for our Winter Storm Watches, Warnings and Advisories and also our Non-Precipitation Watches, Warnings and Advisories starting Tuesday December 8th, 2009.

Survey Information - Click Here

The National Weather Service in Lubbock will test a new format for our Winter Storm Watches, Warnings and Advisories and also our Non-Precipitation Watches, Warnings and Advisories starting
Tuesday December 8th, 2009.